Judge again declines new trial for Kott

U.S. District Judge John Sedwick said Monday he won't reconsider his Jan. 13 ruling denying Kott a new trial or dismissal of charges. Sedwick said new information that surfaced the day after his January decision was insignificant.

Kott, who is appealing his case, has argued that federal prosecutors improperly withheld information he could have used in his defense at his 2007 trial.

In January, it was revealed that prosecutors had come into possession of 105 pages of notes taken by the attorney who represented Bill Allen, the former oil-services company chief who admitted bribing Kott and others. Allen was the government's chief witness in Kott's trial.

The notes were made by Anchorage attorney Bob Bundy during several debriefings of Allen by the FBI and Justice Department lawyers.

Allen and his attorney provided the notes in December to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, which is investigating the six prosecutors who brought former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens to trial for failing to disclose house renovations and other gifts from Allen.

Stevens was convicted, but charges were dismissed when the Justice Department admitted it failed to provide favorable information to Stevens - the same claim that Kott and another convicted ex-legislator, Vic Kohring, have made.

Kohring's attorneys are preparing a motion for a new trial.

The Justice Department has said the government's Public Integrity Section, which has been managing the Alaska corruption cases, received Bundy's notes Jan. 6, and provided them to Kott's lawyer Jan. 14. Two weeks later, Kott asked Sedwick to reconsider his Jan. 13 order.